


A scar away from falling apart

by idioticfangirl



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Death, I'm so sorry, M/M, No really this is probably the saddest thing I will ever write, Singing songs that could only catch the ears of the desperate and all that jazz, Tbh songs are kinda important
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2016-11-04
Packaged: 2018-08-29 01:54:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8471068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idioticfangirl/pseuds/idioticfangirl
Summary: Will's a healer, right?  He can heal anyone.  Especially his own boyfriend.  Right?
Taken from the AU "I keep talking to your grave and crying"





	

Screams across camp. The terror clenching at your heart, the knowledge that something was going horribly wrong. There was something Will needed to say, needed to do, but he was frozen, stuck, still holding a bow with an arrow half hanging out of it, staring into space with an expression of absolute terror.

Then he could move again. With a sudden jolt, a sudden pang of adrenaline, his legs were under his command and he ran, he sprinted like he had never sprinted before. All the way to the battle lines, all the way to where he knew Nico would be, fighting and commanding and being helpful while Will stared on, half out of his mind with worry at the stunts Nico pulled, moves he did with such ease in the training room that Will could never help for long before just having to kiss him. 

This time it was different. This time the screams were over before Will got there, clutching a bow as though he was any good at it. He hated being useless, hated that all he could do was heal the wounded while there were people dying to protect this safe haven, but his feet automatically carried him there and his brain automatically sorted through the medical supplies they had, prioritising types of injuries even as he cringed at the thought of them.

This time it was different. As he ran, people stopped him, not to say they were hurt but just to stop him. This time he felt it before he even saw it. 

This time, Nico limped towards him, face as pale as it had been all those months ago before Will had persuaded him to eat and drink and bask in the sun. This time, Nico wasn't grinning.

This time, the blood dripping from Nico's chest was too much, too red, too serious. Will nearly fell, sturdy feet tripping over themselves as his mind blanked out, losing every thought but I have to save him I have to I have to. 

He didn't remember how they got to the infirmary, only that one second they weren't there and the next they were, Will wrapping bandages around Nico's wound with shaking hands and tears dripping down his face, all the while muttering, "You're fine it's not that bad you're going to be fine."

"Will," Nico put his hand on his shoulder, Nico who was somehow less afraid than Will, Nico who was always there, always comforting, who had to be always there. "I know what it feels like when people are close to death. It's okay," he shrugged lightly, although tears were threatening to fall down his cheeks, "I'll be okay."

"Nonono," Will sped up his efforts, trying to stop the bleeding when it continued to ooze out from under his hands, "you can't die, tell my father, hell tell your father, you can't goddamn die!"

"Will," the hand moved to cup his cheek, Nico's thumb wiping away tears, "just stop, okay? Just be with me."

"This is all I'm good at! This is all I can do Nico I heal people it's what I do I can't fail, not now, not with you. I can't, I won't, where the fuck is my fucking father when you need him?"

Nico laughed, wincing as it jolted the hole in his chest. "I've never heard you swear before."

There was no-one else around, either they were dealing with others or giving him privacy, and Will stared in horror at the wound. The wound he could do nothing about. He stared at Nico, trying to take in every feature of his face as though it was the last time he would have the chance to.

The progression of the bleeding, the worsening of Nico's state, saw Will curled up next to him, head on Nico's shoulder as they lay together and just breathed. "Please dad please dad please dad," Will begged, a mantra that he was beginning to lose hope in.

"Will," it was barely a whisper, and he tensed, knowing what it meant. Will turned his head into Nico's neck, not bothering to stop the tears falling as Nico sang.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.  
You make me happy, when skies are grey.  
You'll never know dear, how much I love you.  
So please don't take my sunshine.....away....." he trailed off, and Nico and Will lay together, and just Will breathed.

 

 

Will awoke, breath catching, and he could swear he still heard the strains of music in the air. He turned to the side, hoping to see Nico laying there, hoping that it was just a bad dream. But he knew, as he had done every night, that this was all too real, that the hope and happiness and life that he had lost would never be replaced. He stumbled up, as if still in the dream, and walked, feet taking him to the only place he went nowadays.

"Hey," he breathed, standing and staring straight ahead, "how've you been? I'm good, I guess, getting better at eating, but -" his breath caught "-nothing's been the same since. I keep talking to myself because I know you can hear me, I know you're listening but I'm never going to hear you again and now you're dead and I should have been able to save you and now I'm crying over your grave again and if Percy finds me like this one more time he's gonna be seriously worried but I can't stay away from you. Never could, you know that?" Hiccuping, he collapsed to his knees, reaching out to touch the gravestone like he could somehow touch Nico again. "I could never stay away from you, I never wanted to be away from you and now here we are and I wish you were here Nico I wish you were here so much." He stayed there in silence, swaying slightly with the breeze, sobbing lightly.

 

 

A million miles away, and yet right next to him, Nico watched. Somewhere, his father was calling, somewhere he was meant to be reborn into a new life, but for now he stood, and did the only thing he could think of. He sang.

 

But Will would never hear him again.


End file.
